Hoekstra raises thousands from political action committees

By Dee-Ann Durbin ASSOCIATED PRESS

In 1992, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra upset a longtime incumbent after making two promises: He wouldn't serve longer than 12 years and he wouldn't take money from political action committees.

Twelve years later, the republican from Holland has had a change of heart. He is running for re-election this year and already has raised $77,883 from PACs for his campaign. According to records filed with the Federal Election Commission, Hoekstra has taken thousands of dollars from Michigan companies -- including CMS Energy, DTE Energy and Kellog Co. -- as well as Wal-Mart, Boeing and the National Rifle Association. PACs represent corporations and other groups and can donate up to $10,000 for a candidate's election.

Hoekstra isn't collecting as much from them as other Michigan lawmakers. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, has the most PAC money, with $460,608. Only Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, has less than Hoekstra. But it's still a radical change for Hoekstra, who in 1996 said there couldn't be real campaign finance reform until PACs were eliminated.

Hoekstra, 50, says he changed his mind when Congress passed campaign finance reforms in 2002. The reforms limited what national and local Republican parties could spend on candidates' behalf and gave rise to new organizations called 527s, which are heavily used by Democrats and can raise unlimited money for ads against candidates.

"We're seeing a whole new political organization in place that's less accountable and will potentially funnel more money than what candidates or political parties ever did," Hoekstra said Monday. "I'm not sure if they're active in West Michigan, but if they are active in West Michigan, I'm going to be ready."

But Hoekstra actually began collecting PAC donations in 1999, well before the new law took effect. That year, he and two other lawmakers formed a PAC to support Republican candidates who favored education reform. No money from the education PAC went to Hoekstra directly, but corporations could seek his favor by donating. The PAC gave $10,000 to candidates in 2000 and collected money from Delphi Corp. and the National Turkey Foundation, among others. In 2002, before the passage of the campaign finance legislation,

Hoekstra formed another PAC called MiLead, which he also used to support fellow Republicans. Hoekstra collected $32,000 from PACs for MiLead in 2002, including $5,000 each from the Fifth-Third Bancorp and the Michigan Credit Union. Hoekstra said he formed the PACs to advance his chances for a House leadership position. He wants to become chairman of the House education committee and also serves on the transportation and intelligence committees.

Hoekstra opposed leadership PACs when he was first elected, but said he has since realized that they're necessary to keep the GOP in power. "there is a tremendous amount of pressure in Washington to conform to the rules, conform to how things are done," Hoekstra said. "What starts happening is that people look for you to not only take a leadership role on policy issues, but along with that, you have a responsibility to the party as well."

In 2002, Hoekstra promised that if he started collecting PAC money for his re-election, he would post the donations on his campaign Web site. As of Monday, the campaign hadn't posted any donations. Hoekstra said it soon will begin listing them on a monthly basis so viewers won't have to wait to see them in the government's quarterly campaign reports.

"My constituents are the ones who will ultimately decide, "Is Pete being bought, by whom, and for how much?" he said. "The most important thing is that they have the information." Hoekstra has taken some hits for his change of position on PAC money. Some question his need to raise so much money since he represents a heavily Republican district and isn't facing a GOP challenger in the Aug. 3 primary. But John VanWck, chairman of the Muskegon County Republican Party, said the issue won't hurt the popular Hoekstra. VanWyck said local parties are more angered by campaign finance that limited their ability to help federal candidates. "He's got to get money from someplace," VanWyck said.

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